Filling of pile shells with concrete



June 1, 1965 R. K. sNow ETAL FILLING QF PILE SHELLS WITH CONCRETE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 18, 1962 June 1, 1965 R. K. SNOW ETAL FILLING OF FILE SHELLS WITH CONCRETE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 18, 1962 United States Patent FILLING 0F PILE SIELLS WITH CONCRETE Richard K. Snow, Westwood, George J. Gendron, Oradell,

and Lindsey .I. Phares, Butler, N.J., assignors to Raymend International Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 18, 1962, Ser. No. 231,519 2 Claims. (Cl. 61-535) This invention relates to methods and apparatus for pouring concrete into tubular pile or caisson shells and the like.

It has heretofore been observed that when concrete is poured in the usual manner into long pile shells and the like, that the turbulence and velocity of the escaping air may tend to segregate the rock from the cement in the loose concrete mixture. Furthermore, the concrete may tend to splash off the sides of the shells with some of the grout sticking to the sides, thereby increasing the tendency of the rock to segregate from the grout. This segregation of the rock from grout in the lower portions of long piles may in some cases result in a non-uniform mixture of concrete and consequently, a concrete mass which may have less strength than it otherwise would have. The exact depth at which segregation occurs to a significant degree depends upon various factors such as the rate at which concrete is poured, the ratio of rock to cement, the shape of the shell, etc.

In accordance with the invention these difiiculties are alleviated by first precompressing in effect, discrete bodies or charges of the concrete prior to pouring; and then dropping the precompressed charges into the pile shell. The precompression causes a cohesion among the particles of each charge so that it falls as a unit and is not therefore susceptible to the turbulent effects of the air and other elements within the form. The individual charges, of course, must not be compressed to such a condition that they are not capable of blending with concrete already in the form.

According to a preferred manner of carrying out the invention, amounts of concrete mix are poured into a dischargeable precompression chamber and are then discharged so that they drop into the pile shell. The weight on the concrete in the dischargeable chamber of the concrete resting above it in the chamber and the impact of this concrete with the bottom of the precompression chamber tends to squeeze or precompress the concrete into charges or integral compact bodies which may then be dropped as units when discharged from the chamber. The subsequent impact of the charges against the previously poured concrete in the pile shell causes a blending which provides a relatively homogeneous mass of poured concrete.

The features and advantages of the invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description which should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating by way of example, a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a tubular pile shell showing one embodiment of the invention in operative relationship thereto;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view, partially in section, of the upper portion of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view, also partially in section, of the lower portion of the concrete receiving chamber of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view, partially in section, of such chamber;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged elevational view, partly in section, of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, this View being taken at right angles to that of FIG. 1;

3,186,181 Patented June 1, 1965 ICC FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of the apparatus used for securing and releasing the chamber discharge gate; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged top view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings in further detail, in FIG. 1 an elongated tubular chamber 9 is shown located in the mouth 10 of a pile shell 11 which has been driven into the earth. A hinged gate 13 located at the bottom of this chamber is held in a closed position to retain concrete 12 shown as being poured therein. The gate 13 may be opened to discharge the concrete in a compacted mass or slug as indicated by dotted lines at 14.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the position of the gate 13 may be controlled by means of a chain 15 connected to a movable rod 16. The lower portion of said rod 16 in the particular form shown is bent to a triangular shape with the base of the triangle 17 running underneath the gate 13, where it is pivotally connected as by eyelet mem bers 18, 18a welded to the bottom of the gate 13. When the gate 13 is in a closed position, as in FIGS. 2 and 5, the chain 15 may be held in an upper position by a clamping means 19.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, such clamping means may consist of a hook 20 attached to a plate 21 which in turn is hingedly attached to the chamber 9 as by hinge means 21. An L-shaped arm 22 is attached to the said plate 21 at the point where the plate 21 is hingedly attached to the chamber 9. The arm 22 is attached to the plate 21 in such a position that when the arm is in an upwards position as in FIGS. 5-7, the plate 21 will also be in its upwardly directed position. A J-shaped bar 23 is provided to retain the arm 22 in its upwards position. This bar 23 is pivotally connected to a bracket 24 which in turn is attached to the chamber 9. Thus the gate 13 may be opened by swinging the bar 23 clear of the arm 22 and then moving the arm 22 to a downwards position. Then the plate 21 and, consequently, the hook 20 will be swung downwards, thereby releasing the chain 15 from the hook 20, thus permitting the rod 16 to travel downward to release the gate 13, as shown in FIG. 4. A stop block 31 is attached to the bottom of the chamber 9 in such a position as to prevent the gate 13 from swinging too far open into a position from which the gate 13 could not be pulled closed by the rod 16.

As shown in FIG. 5, handles 25, 25a, 26 and 26a are fitted to the chamber 9 to facilitate handling and positioning. The chamber 9 may be held in position in the mouth 10 of the pile shell 11 by means of supporting wires 27 and 27a attached to the lower handles 26, 26a as by small clamps 28, 28a, 29 and 29a. The opposite ends of these supporting wires are attached to hooks 30 and 30a which in turn are supported by the lip 10 of the pile shell 11 or any other convenient support.

In order to introduce concrete into the pile shell the concrete is first poured into the chamber 9 while the gate 13 is in a closed position. When this chamber 9 is substantially filled, the gate 13 is opened, and the concrete discharged in one compacted mass, or slug 14. After the slug 14 has left the pipe 9 the gate may be closed and the process repeated until the pile shell is filled to a desired level. Once the pile shell has been filled to a level above which segregation is no longer a problem, the gate 13 may be left in an open position and the concrete poured directly through the chamber 9 into the pile shell, or the chamber may be removed when filling the upper portion of the pile shell.

Since segregation of the rock from the cement does not occur to a harmful degree until the concrete is poured over substantial distances, of the range of say, thirty-five to fifty feet, the chamber 9 may be of any appropriate length up to this range. Furthermore, inasmuch as the slug of concrete might have a tendency to jam against the walls of the pile if fed into a pile with a smaller diameter than that of the slug, the chamber 9 can be of any practicable diameter up to that of the narrowest section of the pile. A chamber twelve feet long, with an eight inch diameter, has been found to give quite satisfactory results when used in piles, for example up to 150 feet in length.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention is herein disclosed for purposes of explanation, various further modifications thereof, after study of this specification, will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. Reference should accordingly be had to the appended claims in determining the scope of the invention.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Method for introducing concrete into pile shells and the like after same have been installed in the earth and which are of such extensive depth that the rock of the concrete mixture, if poured in at the top, would become 20 5 is filled to the desired depth.

2. Method in accordance with the foregoing claim 1 and in which the slugs are formed by pouring the concrete mixture into an elongated chamber extending at least partially into the upper end of the shell, whereby the 10 impact of the mixture on the bottom of the chamber and the weight of the mixture, causes the slug to form as a compact mass, the slugs being released from the chamber by opening the bottom thereof, and the successive slugs, as thus formed and dropped, forming a relatively homogene- 15 cos mass filling the shell to the desired depth.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 940,100 11/09 Welsh 6153.64 1,104,703 7/14 Phillips 61-5352 1,127,393 2/15 Beall 6l53.52 1,444,519 2/23 Norton 25-103 2,576,507 11/51 GerWick 61-53.64

25 EARL J. WITMER, Primary Examiner.

JACOB SHAPIRO, Examiner. 

1. METHOD FOR INTRODUCING CONCRETE INTO PILE SHELLS AND THE LIKE AFTER SAME HAVE BEEN INSTALLED IN THE EARTH AND WHICH ARE OF SUCH EXTENSIVE DEPTH THAT THE ROCK OF THE CONCRETE MIXTURE, IF POURED IN AT THE TOP, WOULD BECOME EXCESSIVELY SEGREGATED FROM THE GROUTH BY REASON OF AIR TURBULENCE IN THE SHELL, SAID METHOD COMPRISING: FIRST FORMING A COMPACT SLUG OF THE CONCRETE MIXTURE AT THE UPPER END OF THE PILE SHELL, SAID SLUG BEING SMALLER THAN THE SHELL IN CROSS-SECTION AND BEING ELONGATED WITH ITS LOWER END AS FORMED AT A REGION SPACED FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE SHELL BY A DISTANCE AT LEAST SEVERAL TIMES GREATER THAN THE LENGTH OF THE SLUG; THEN RELEASING SAID SLUG AND ALLOWING SAME TO DROP, WHILE SAME REMAINS AS AN INTEGRAL COMPACT MASS, TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SHELL; AND FORMING AND DROPPING LIKE SUCCESSIVE COMPACT SLUGS UNTIL THE SHELL IS FILLED TO THE DESIRED DEPTH. 